Doug Collins: “I’m Through With Coaching”

It’s just as well because I prefer Doug Collins the TV analyst anyway.

Collins had a rough year with the Philadelphia 76ers last season after the team put much of their hopes for progress on the shoulders of one Andrew Bynum, and they paid for it.

After making the playoffs the previous year, the Sixers finished in the ninth spot last season and then decided to go the rebuilding route, which wasn’t what Collins signed up for, so both parties went their separate ways.

No, I’m through coaching. I said it when I went to Philly. That was my last spot. Like I said, it was a circle of life for me.

I was at a coaching clinic the other day at Illinois State talking about how difficult coaching has become. There’s so much criticism and you’re always under the microscope. It’s a tough, tough thing. There’s so much money involved because these franchises are worth hundreds of millions of dollars and the coach, whether it’s right or wrong, has to be in the spotlight all the time. That’s just the way the situation is….

Coaching is 24/7. You know it’s going to be on your mind all the time. But I feel like I never coached a team that underachieved and I feel very good about that. The respect that you look for is the respect of your peers and hopefully I have that. I always felt our teams were prepared and I feel like we had young players get better wherever I was. There’s certain things in coaching you can’t control, but I’m proud of what I’ve done as a coach and I’m excited about this part of my life.

For selfish reasons, I’m glad Collins will be on TV calling games from now on. I feel like he interprets the game of basketball so vividly for viewers.